The problem is more troubling when the effects of scientific development are legal or sociological. In such cases, developers are even less able to anticipate the consequences, since they lie beyond their expertise.
The field of genetic engineering and DNA manipulation--applied, for instance, in the creation of DNA "fingerprints" for criminal investigations--is an important arena in which such problems are likely to occur. Assuming the reliability of genetic identification, major issues of privacy loom ahead, given the abundance of genetic information about individuals that could become available. Will such information be destroyed after a case is over? If it is kept, where? And if kept, who will have access to it? Will the individual be informed about its uses?
Another rapidly developing field involves genetic susceptibility to cancer and other environmental hazards. We now know that there is substantial individual variation among people in their responses to chemical exposures, one ...
